Ross: Florida Citrus to Benefit from Hurricane Relief Package

WASHINGTON--U.S. Rep. Dennis A. Ross hailed the House's newly unveiled disaster relief bill on Monday, noting that the $2.6 billion in crop relief funding would go a long way to help farmers in the Sunshine State. Thanks in part to Hurricane Irma and the continued problems with citrus greening, last week the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) forecast the worst Florida orange season since 1944-1945.

"It took a great deal of work, but we finally reached a deal that will help Florida farmers recover from the storm with $2.6 billion and prevent these jobs from going overseas," said Rep. Ross. "While we still have a long road ahead, I'm glad that Florida citrus will have a fighting chance."

On NPR last week, Rep. Ross noted that he and others in the Florida and Texas delegations would not support a continuing resolution to fund the government without the funding. He further warned that failure to offer relief could mean losing a key Florida industry to overseas competition, undermining a crucial part of President Trump's agenda.

"We were hit obviously through the eye by Hurricane Irma. My district has been one of the most abundant producers of citrus in the world for years. At least until this year... We provide 60 percent of the orange juice to the United States. Absent relief we're going to lose an industry that's going to have 60,000 job impact, and we're going to see it go overseas."

Full transcript of the interview, and details of the bill below:

Rep. Ross: "We've asked our leadership. They've said, 'Yes, we're going to provide for you, we're going to take care of you,' but it's been three months, and we've had no relief. The only thing they've told us, the other day in conference, 'We're not ready to provide it,' meaning that they haven't gone through whatever they need to go through over a three-month period, and we've given them every assessment of value of damage."

NPR: "So that's the only explanation" We should say, you are a Republican. Your party controls Congress, the White House. Are your Republicans colleagues giving you anything more than 'We're not ready' in terms of an argument you can take your constituents?"

Ross: "No. But then leadership did say, 'Now that doesn't mean we won't be ready by next week to provide it. But just as of Thursday or Wednesday, we were not ready to provide the supplemental relief.'

"Now, I don't know where the breakdown is, but I don't think there's any argument over the devastation that was sustained in both Texas or Florida from these hurricanes. Now, we have given so much more from this federal government to Superstorm Sandy, to Hurricane Katrina than we have to Harvey and to Irma. We can do this, and I am very concerned with a President who wants to make sure we maintain our jobs here in the United States that we don't see our industries go overseas, and here we are seeing the foremost industry, the #2 economic provider in the state of Florida, quite frankly in their last breaths."

NPR: "I just want to ask you about the potential danger of this strategy, because if you block this funding bill and the government were to shut down, wouldn't that deprive some of your constituents of some services they might really need to get by in this time?"

Ross: "Our leadership knows that, they know what it takes, they've already done 3 supplemental relief bills, there's no reason they can't do this other one. It is on them as to whether we shut down the government or not. Not on us or on Texas because of the damage we sustained due to these storms."

Details of the bill are below:

H.R. 4667, the Emergency Disaster Aid Package, provides $81 billion in emergency funding for disasters caused by Hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria, as well as California wildfires. This emergency funding will continue the efforts to recover, rebuild, and reduce the impact of future natural disasters. The two previous disaster supplemental bills enacted into law provided critical funding for immediate life-saving response and recovery efforts in the aftermath of the hurricanes and wildfires. Funding in the Emergency Disaster Aid Package provides additional funding for recovery efforts across the country to rebuild affected communities.

*This is a budget-neutral solution that provides a measure of certainty to cotton farmers, including many who are still struggling to recover from the recent disasters, as they prepare for the upcoming crop year

*Eliminates the caps of crop insurance policies for livestock producers

*This will allow for the development of crop insurance policies for livestock producers, (including dairy farmers), ensuring that adequate risk management tools are available the next time disaster strikes

*Requires the Governor of Puerto Rico to submit to Congress a Recovery Plan that was developed in coordination and certified by the Oversight Board describing the Commonwealth's 12- and 24-month economic and disaster recovery plan